dudacek

Because very few of the players who play there will ever see the ice in Buffalo, let alone become important pieces there.

Come on man, you're so busy parsing things into bite-sized chunks, you are completely talking past my original point: which was simply the bolded. A lot of the players who do become stud scorers were not projected to be that when they were 18 or 20. I listed nearly 20 of them. It's OK to say you agree with me. 😁

i think Peterka and Quinn were unicorns and there is no way the likes of Kisakov and Rosen will make up for their loss, and, as you say, there's been no one signed to replace Jankowski and R2. The upgrades to the blueline should make up for it somewhat, but there is a big hole down the middle.

Sorry Amerks fans, not that they are mutually exclusive, but winning championships is trumped by developing Sabres prospects every time. As far as I'm concerned, last year is likely to represent one of the most successful seasons in Rochester Americans history.

So what you're saying is 44 per cent (nearly as many) of last year's top 25 scorers weren't initially projected to be 40-goal, 90-point scorers, and come from the same ranks as Jack Quinn, Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, Matthew Savoie, Isak Rosen and Noah Östlund, or even from the Kulich-Peterka-Thompson range?

Who actually "projects" as a 40-goal or 90-point player? Jack Eichel did. He's six seasons in and has broke 30 goals once and 80 points once. Were any of these guys projected to reach those heights when they were 20? Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Alex Debrincat, Kiril Kaprizov, Artemi Panarin, Sebastian Aho, David Pastrnak, Chris Kreider, Jake Guentzel, Mark Stone, Jason Robertson, Max Pacioretty, Johnny Gaudreau, Claude Giroux, Nazem Kadri, Kevin Fiala... Brayden Point had 40 points in his 21-year-old season. Dylan Cozens had 38 in his. Yes, it's more likely that Peterka is a career 3rd-liner than the next Kucherov. But it seems to me that studs can come "out of nowhere" nearly as often as they do from the "top 10 prospects" lists.

Not that he's anywhere near the same class, but I think ERod is probably going to end up on a team that loses out on Kadri. He;s just waiting for that domino to fall.

71 points in just 54 games in his last year of junior. And he’s been pretty productive as an AHLer: 66 points in 124 games. He actually was an NHLer last year - only 5 AHL games - but spent a lot of time in the press box. Upon closer inspection, I’m going to say he’s probably on par with Pilut and Fitzgerald in the battle for D7 and will probably see time in Buffalo this year.

Probably meaningless, but the Sabres roster on their site has been updated after the recent moves to include their recent signings. Neither Pilut, nor Fitzgerald, nor even Samuelsson are included on the list of big club players. Kale Clague is. (Also of interest is Krebs, Peterka and Quinn are also missing. Owen Power, however, is on the list.)

@DarthEbriate Apparently Devon Levi models his game after Qui Gon Jinn Fantastic piece in the Athletic https://theathletic.com/3437934/2022/07/21/sabres-goalie-prospect-devon-levi-preparation/ Money quote: “I have goosebumps thinking about it, but I know this kid is going to win a Stanley Cup,” Raimondo said. “I know that everything he’s doing is building toward him being a Stanley Cup Champion. I know it in my heart. I see the way he goes about things and it takes a really really special person to be a part of a Stanley Cup-winning team. I think he’s subconsciously building himself to be that person. I think Buffalo is lucky.” Nothing like setting the bar low, eh?

That’s fair. In my view, Savoie is better at 18 than Quinn was and significantly better than Peterka. And if you dial it back to 17 there was no competition: Savoie was probably top 4 in the world, behind WRIGHT and with Miroshnichenko and Lambert. Quinn and Peterka were barely in the radar. And I think that’s why I have Savoie where I do: it’s not really clear to me if, or how much, he’s plateauing. Need to see where he goes next year. I like the kid a lot, he was definitely the guy I hoped would fall to us. As a draft year player, he is probably the most explosive offensive talent we’ve picked in a generation except Eichel. I am including Reinhart and Vanek in this.

Can't disagree with this, but it's not really what I was trying to get it. It's more about the curve. Peterka started the year as a well-thought-of high 2nd-round pick with a 2nd-line ceiling. No one would have been surprised had he struggled somewhat in the transition to the AHL as an underager. To maintain his status, all he really would have had to do was put up 20 goals and 20 assists. Instead, by the end of the year, you could have made an argument he was the best player in the entire league. He was a far better player in the 2nd best league in the world at 20 than he was in the German league at 19. That kind of growth is pretty remarkable. It's kinda like a guy putting up 40 points as an AHL rookie one year and 75 as an NHL rookie the next. Who does that?

A few months back, I would have definitely agreed with you. I watched a lot of Peterka this year and what distance has started to make clear for me is the incredible amount of improvement he's made over the course of the year. He was always really toolsy and could be hard-working, but I never really saw the head for the game that separates the Sam Reinharts from the Benoit Pouliots, or the two-way commitment that makes Mike Peca better than Derek Roy. But that has changed: what has happened is he's just gotten better at hockey, the finding and creating space for himself and others, and the refusal to be beaten. Maybe it's recency bias, but he was the best player I saw in the AHL playoffs. Probably wishful thinking, but I think about the path of guys like Marchand and Kucherov and I'm starting to ask myself why can't their paths be his?

I get the sense the Sabres aren't as concerned about handedness as the internet is.

I thought the 2nd half of the season featured some pretty good hockey. Good enough that I didn't feel like I was wasting my time, featuring people I felt good about cheering for.

Never any sure things when it come to prospects and not many hit their ceilings. I think Power and Dahlin are the only ones you can reasonably expect to be impact players even without hitting their ceilings. But what is encouraging is the sheer number of players who seem to have legitimate shots to be top 6/4 levels players even if they don't hit their ceilings and could be more if they do. The more lottery tickets the better.

It’s the mental side that cements my excitement about Levi. Its not often you find someone with off-the-charts self-awareness and self-confidence in the same package. And then couple that with unrelenting love for and dedication to his craft.

The expectation is Rochester, with the possibility of going back to Sweden by Christmas if things aren’t working out.

I heard Peca talking about him and thought he was noticeable at development camp. Still didn’t crack my top 20. 😄 As long as the prospect is Sabres property, I’m not going to speculate on passports, or free agent defectors and just stick to hockey. I like Poltapov’s game.

Adjusted after the draft and development camp: 1 Power: I suspect some will be frustrated by his chill demeanour this year and I don’t know that he will dominate the way we will want him to. But he will be good and long-term he’s going to play as a top pairing defenceman for a long, long time. 2 Levi: He just has it: the talent and the focus. He will be the linchpin of a good era of Sabres teams. His size doesn’t matter. The rest of the hockey world will catch up eventually with what should be obvious. My favourite prospect. 3 Quinn: Another very likeable kid, character kid, with a centre’s hockey IQ and elite hands, who plays with pace. The rough playoff raises the question as to whether he has the ceiling his regular season suggested. I still don’t think people quite get how remarkable that regular season was. I think a lot of the Sabres future success rides on Quinn becoming more Thomas Vanek than JP Dumont. 4 Peterka: I really struggled on whether to not to elevate Peterka past Quinn, because as good as Quinn was, Peterka grew his game so much over the year and he has better speed and hockey strength to go with equivalent skill. Quinn is more rounded and smarter, but JJ closed that gap as the season went on and elevated in the playoffs. I’d never projected him as a 1st-line winger, but his trajectory is making me wonder if I underestimated him. 5 Savoie: Obviously has a longer distance to get there, but Savoie’s ability to execute plays at high speed at 18 is higher than we saw from any other player in the system. And he is always playing at high speed. He has 1st line hands, feet and vision. The only question is size, but he seems to have the type of squat hockey build that overcomes that. Very exciting prospect. 6 Östlund: I think this kid is the most natural centre we have in the system and he’s going to end up surprising a lot of people. He’s a puck funnel for exits, entries, and transitions, a great distributer, and fine backchecker. He’s got sublime hands and vision and he plays fast. He’s physically immature and it will take some time for him to arrive, but he’s exactly the type of player we need to make that fine collection of wingers better. 7 Krebs: I’m not discounting the noise about the Sabres needing to get bigger, but I think it ignores the identity Adams is building up front: his team is full of guys who play really fast. Peyton Krebs is another one. He is so hard on the forecheck, and so hard on the backcheck. He sees the ice well and he can make plays. I don’t think he will ever score goals, but I do think experience should temper his tendency to make bad passes. I foresee a Swiss Army knife 2nd-liner. 8 Kulich: It was hard to believe the player we saw at development camp fell to 28. Speed, a sniper’s release, a relentless approach and a stone-cold swagger add up to an enticing package. There just seems to be both multiple tools and the toolbox to make you wonder if there’s the potential to far outstrip his draft slot. 9 Samuelsson: Mule is built for cancelling opposition forwards. He doesn’t crush them so much as he swallows them up. Good stick, good judgement, good strength, good character. He’s going to be a shutdown dman for a long time. 10 Portillo: He’s imposing and in control. He looked great at dev camp and will be a leader next year for Michigan. He will be an NHL goalie. Hope we can sign him. 11 Poltapov: People shouldn’t sleep on this kid. He’s a buzzsaw middle-sixer who’s abrasive enough to play with the plugs and talented enough to play with the skill. It’s a package we lack. 12 Johnson: Still see his skating and the way he uses it making him a surefire NHLer, likely as a 2nd-pair guy who specializes in preventing entries, jumpstarting transitions, and moving pucks out of danger. 13 Lukkonnen: I like his skill, his play down low and his character. I don’t like his inability to stay healthy or his propensity for letting in long shots. Very important year for him. 14 Neuchev: Maybe there is some shiny new toy syndrome involved in ranking him here, but the production was remarkable, the skill level obvious, and the physique bigger than the similar Rosen and Kisakov. Long-term project with a high ceiling. 15 Novikov: I look at what we just added in Lyubushkin and find it very easy to project Novikov into that role. His elevated status with Russian officials, including playing in the KHL at such a young age speaks to his respect. 16 Rosen: I tried to watch him in Dev camp as the prospect I have the most questions about. I saw skill, but I didn’t see the dog-on-a-bone compete that seems to characterize most Adams high picks. Big year for him to open some eyes. 17 Kisakov: ranks just behind Rosen and mostly because of draft pedigree. Just as slight, similar kind of player, but seems to have more sack to his game. Another good test for Appert and his team. 18 Nadeau: I liked a lot about his game last training camp, but I worried about his foot speed. Still worry, but the kid had a heckuva season and we need a dirty areas guy like him to make it. 19 Bloom: Young kid with NHL size and speed and pretty solid production who excelled on the PK. Definite tools and definite room for growth. It’s impressive to me that guys like Bloom, Kisakov and Nadeau would be flirting with the top 10 for at least half the teams in the league. 20 Lindgren: gave him the last spot due to his mobility, his youth and his upside. Also considered Kozak and Costantini as other guys who caught my eye at dev camp, Rousek, who showed skill in Rochester, and Leinonen as a goalie they are clearly high on, as prospects worth watching.

I'm curious what those who prefer Krebs on the wing thought of his ROchester playoff performance. To me, he looked like a natural centre down there, both ends of the ice.

it's going to be interesting how things shake out in terms of how stays and who goes and I hope Kevyn is more patient than the fan base. The best example I can think of is Olofsson, who many are prepared to trade despite the fact he's, what, the 3rd most successfully developmental guy we have, after Dahlin and Thompson? Jokiharju, Mitts and now Krebs are joining him. Some Cozens doubt is even starting to creep in. It's easier to move on when you've got a long list of prospects pushing from behind and you're impatient for wins. Basically, a lot of fans go from sky-high hope for a shiny new toy to moving on to the next guy in a remarkably short time when really it's going to take 200-300 games to see what we have. Peyton Krebs was a point-a-game-player in Rochester this year after scoring 43 point in 24 games in his last season of junior. He is 21 with 48 Sabres games under his belt and needs to get better. I suspect he will.

When they asked Adams about centre, he was the one who brought up Z.

You’re not wrong, but you also watched some of the best passes made all season from the same player. He is a high-risk high-reward playmaker whose coach has given him considerable leash to learn from his mistakes. If he does, he’s a weapon. Last year he looked very much like the rookie he was.

I think these have become my favourite line combos: Skinner Thompson Peterka The chemistry if the 1st 2 is well-established. Peterka’s pace through the neutral zone and on the fore check, plus his skill and strength on the puck should complement them nicely. I picture it as a battleship flanked by two darting spitfires, each creating space for each other. Quinn Mittelstadt Tuch Ive wanted to see Mitts and Tuch together since we first traded for Alex. I think Tuch’s size and speed and transition game and Casey’s fine motor skills and half-court game compensate perfectly for the other’s holes. Not only does Quinn have the finishing skills the other two lack, he’s also going to bridge the other two, finding them in space and filling the holes they create. Krebs Cozens Olofsson This is a textbook combination: Peyton’s passing and forechecking, Dylan’s speed and power, and Victor’s ability to read and finish. The first 2 are great at pushing the pace and all three can make plays at speed. Asplund Girgensons Okposo The LOG line Mach 2? Three extraordinarily hard-working and responsible players together on a hard-forechecking defence-first shutdown line.